Playback Progress Reconciliation Across Media Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems fail to synchronize playback progress points across different media devices and content providers, leading to users wasting time finding the correct playback point, especially in social or group environments with multiple content providers.
Innovation Solution
A system that detects nearby media devices using GPS, short-range wireless communication, or other methods to request and share progress point information, allowing seamless playback resumption across devices and content providers by reconciling playback times based on segment identifiers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional systems store playback progress only on the local device, then the device can maintain simple storage and access, but other devices cannot retrieve the progress information to resume playback
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines local progress point storage with cloud-based synchronization. Multiple devices can access the same progress information through cloud synchronization, allowing seamless playback resumption across different devices while maintaining information availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a cloud service as an intermediary between devices and progress point information. The cloud acts as a mediator that stores and distributes progress information, enabling devices to retrieve progress data without direct device-to-device communication.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system synchronizes progress points across multiple content providers, then users can resume playback from the correct point regardless of which provider they use, but the system complexity increases due to reconciling different playback timelines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms playback progress from time-based parameters to segment-based parameters. By identifying content segments independently of playback speed or provider-specific timing, the system can synchronize progress across different content providers without complex time reconciliation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides content into discrete segments with unique identifiers. This segmentation allows the system to track progress at the segment level rather than relying on provider-specific timestamps, enabling seamless cross-provider playback resumption while simplifying the synchronization mechanism.
3Reliability
If the system continuously monitors and synchronizes playback progress in real-time, then playback continuity is maintained across devices, but energy consumption and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic synchronization instead of continuous real-time monitoring. Devices synchronize progress information at regular intervals or upon specific events (e.g., pausing, resuming), reducing energy consumption while maintaining adequate playback continuity across devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs progress point synchronization in advance during idle periods or when devices are connected to power sources. This preliminary action ensures progress information is updated before needed, reducing the need for frequent real-time synchronization and lowering energy consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
The systems and methods are described herein for playback of content based on progress point information. The systems and methods detect nearby media devices to transmit or request progress point information. Based on the communicated progress point information, the system may generate an option to play back content at a point within the content up to which content was last consumed. When content providers offer different versions of one content item and the user does not select to play back content from the content provider associated with the progress point information, the system determines a proper playback point in other content providers.